Waterborn (The Emerald Series Book 1) (22 page)

I looked at Erin and she shrugged as if to say, “What can you do?”

I waited for thunder to clap as my seemingly separate worlds converged. Erin danced with Cree. I could still see Jeb and Daniel and their dates over all the bobbing heads. I decided, on further observation, that Jeb’s date wasn’t one of us. She had a decidedly tourist look about her. Ally had her face planted in the crook of Jax’s neck. Where had he come from? His hands curled around her butt, breaking the number one rule of girls’ night—no boyfriends. He smiled, our eyes colliding as he looked down his nose at me. I scanned the crowd again, disappointed when I didn’t see Noah, even though I had no reason to believe he would be here. I’d been half hoping he would show up.

A warm body moved in behind me. Hands gripped my hips, pulling me back against hard thighs. He smelled of the Deep and I inhaled, closing my eyes in relief. We swayed, bodies pressed close, and in that moment I could have kicked myself for asking Noah not to kiss me. His mouth was next to my ear, his breath warm on my neck. I turned in his arms, intent on just getting it over with. I had been stupid to think I could keep my mouth off his.

“Noah.” My smile faded. Instead of green eyes, I was confronted with a pair of eyes so lifeless they may as well have been made of wax. I dropped my arms. “What the hell do you want?”

The first time I had seen Sol his hair had been wet. Dry now, it hung over his shoulders and down his back in Medusa-like spirals, coiled so tight I thought if one were stretched all the way out it would have reached his knees. It was the exact same color as mine, except his had a few platinum streaks courtesy of the sun. He wore a lavender button-up shirt, open down the middle, the torso underneath all hard lines and ridges. His white shorts hung indecently low on his lean hips.

I blinked, momentarily stunned.

Sol’s hand closed around my wrist, lifting my arm around his shoulder, pulling me closer than I ever wanted to be. He smelled of salt and sand, and the pearl at his neck gleamed eerily in the meager light. Was he kidding? Did he think I would actually dance with him? I jerked my arms free and shoved my way through the throng of people, intent only on getting as far away from Sol as possible.

“Come on, Caris. Stop,” he yelled over the pounding music, following me to the fringes of the crowd where the music wasn’t so loud.

I thought about ducking into the bathroom, but that seemed too much like running. I refused to let him bully me this time.

I whirled to confront him. “You cut me.” My finger poked him squarely in the middle of his chest between the fabric of his shirt, and it was like poking steel.

“You’re welcome for that. Probably made it easier for you.” His smile was meant to be disarming and I supposed if he weren’t my brother it would have been. He wasn’t as tall as Noah; the top of my head was even with his chin.

“I almost drowned,” I accused.

“That would be some feat for a breather. Drowning.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking down on me like I was a spoiled three year old throwing a tantrum, completely devoid of anything resembling remorse.

“You don’t know anything about me.” It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him who I was, but I found a perverse thrill in keeping our relationship a secret. I wondered if he knew there was even the possibility of me. Now that I knew, there was no mistaking the resemblance. We both looked like our father.

“I was trying to remedy that.” He smirked, cocking his head so that a spiraling curl fell over his jaw next to his full mouth. His hair was too pretty, his eyes too dark.

“Go to hell.” I turned to go find Erin.

“Been there. I have a better idea. Let’s go somewhere a little more private.” Before I could take a step, he took me by the arm, gripping right above my elbow.

Clearly he was accustomed to getting his way and having people bend to his will. Erin and Jax had sure caved in his presence. I searched the crowd for Erin but she was lost in the mass of bodies. The back of Jeb’s head bobbed over the crowd but his back was to me, making it impossible to get his attention.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Even as I said the words, my feet were already moving as if by their own volition, rendering my words meaningless.

“I just want to talk,” he said.

“Noah will be here soon.” Which was a lie, and rather pathetic on my part. Then I realized I could make it be true if I wanted to, but I didn’t want to. Sol was my brother, whether he knew it or not, and I didn’t think he would hurt me. His bullying tactics left a lot to be desired, though.

“Undoubtedly.” Sol ushered me down the sidewalk away from the square, away from the throngs of people, away from our little blanket island. There was nothing between us and the beach but the meandering boardwalk.

The beach, to my dismay, was deserted. Not that I really felt like I was in danger, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be alone in the dark with him, brother or not. He was still a virtual stranger who had used a knife on me before.

Sol hauled me around, his face masked in shadow. Over the Gulf a thin fog appeared, floating toward us on a non-existent breeze.

“What do you want with me?” I demanded when he finally released my arm. “Why do you keep harassing me?”

“I’m just curious.” His eyes raked over my face while one hand plucked at the ends of my hair. His other hand trailed down the length of my arm, too close.

“Why?” I shied away from his touch. He seemed to lack the understanding of the idea of personal space.

“I’ve never known anyone like you before.” His brow furrowed, as if he were genuinely baffled by my existence. I searched his eyes for some clue as to his intent, but there was nothing there, no sense of emotion, just dark emptiness.

“I’m nothing special,” I said.

“I think you are.” He reached for me, his fingers like clamps on my arms.

“Stop touching me.”

The fog had found us. It was like we were standing in a cloud. And then the rain started. Small drops of it fell cool on my skin.

“My, my, Caris. What a little bag of tricks you are?” He let out a sudden bark of laughter.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I searched the beach. Sand and fog were one and the same. I listened for the water. I could barely hear it even though I knew it was only a few steps away.

His laugh faded, the remains of it echoing over the dunes, his expression molded and hard. Then his mouth crashed down on mine, all biting teeth and tongue. It was so unexpected that for a few seconds I just stood motionless. When I regained my senses, my hands grappled at his chest and I pushed. He was strong, way stronger than me. He only pulled me closer, crushing me tighter against him. His chest vibrated with laughter. Oh God, something in me was responding, a feverish chill seeping out of me into him. His hands gripped my face.

“Who are you?”

My mouth dropped open. His body was ripped from mine. I stumbled backward and almost fell. Rain slashed through the fog and pelted the ground.

“Caris?” Noah filled my vision, his voice booming in my ears. His hands cupped my jaw, eyes lighting on my face. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, not sure where my voice had gone. It was raining harder, soaking my skin. I heard a voice over a loud speaker calling an end to the concert.

“Come on, Noah. I was just having a little fun.” Sol teetered backward before Noah released me then turned on Sol. He grabbed Sol by his shirt, bunching it in his fists.

“She’s your sister, asshole.” Noah cocked one arm back, and I had just enough time to meet Sol’s stunned gaze before Noah’s fist smashed right into his chin. Sol went down hard, landing flat on his back, spread eagle in the sand.

Noah walked over to me and his hands cupped my face. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” My eyes fell to the prone form of Sol still laying in the sand. He hadn’t moved.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine.” Noah smiled. “He’ll have one hell of a headache tomorrow, though.”

The fog dissipated. The rain that minutes before had been falling in sheets dwindled to a sprinkle.

Noah’s eyes danced over my shoulder and I turned my head to find we had attracted a small audience. Some of the faces I recognized, some I didn’t. The whole lot of them were soaked, as was I. No one made a move to go help Sol, not even Cree.

“You want to get out of here?” Noah asked.

“Yeah,” I said, relieved when he folded my hand in his. I needed away from here. Away from the dozen openly curious eyes all focused on me. I swear if I could have unzipped Noah’s skin and crawled inside, I would have.

Jeb and Noah exchanged a knuckle bump and Noah said, “Thanks for the call.”

I felt Erin’s hand on my arm as she pushed my bag into my trembling hand, the one that wasn’t getting crushed by Noah’s grip. “Thanks.”

“I’ll take her home,” Noah said to her.

I wanted to say, “Move along people, there’s nothing to see here.” Anything to get all those eyes off of me.

I couldn’t crawl into the Bronco fast enough.

“
H
e kissed me
.” Caris stared out the passenger side door, a concentrated bite to her tone. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

She did look kind of pale. I was driving at a snail’s pace already, but I let my foot off the gas just in case.

“You want me to pull over?”

“No.” She didn’t sound too sure, voice quaky and small. She appeared to be okay, physically at least. The thin strap of her dress had slid off her shoulder and hung around her arm. I reached over and put it back in place, fingertips brushing against cool skin. She shivered and I wasn’t delusional enough to think that it had anything to do with my touch. Sol had rattled her. Again.

“What were you doing out there with him in the first place?” I clamped my jaw, reigning in the accusation. He was her brother and had every right to talk to her. Natural, I guess, that she would want to talk to him. That didn’t mean I liked finding them alone on the beach with his damn mouth on her. Mauling her more like it.

“I didn’t think… I thought it would be okay.” She leveled her gaze on me and for the first time I got a good look at her face. She had a nice gash on her lip, glaring red under the passing streetlights.

“Did he hurt you?”

She tongued the spot, eyebrows drawn, almost as though she hadn’t noticed it yet either. “I think he bit me.”

“Shit.” I swerved off the road, roaring into some random parking lot across from a public beach access. I shoved the Bronco in park and hopped out. When I walked around the front of the Bronco, Caris was already out of her seat, waiting for me, bottom lip trembling.

“I want it gone,” she whispered.

It was like we shared some kind of silent understanding, a need to erase what Sol had done. It had only been a kiss, but that should have been my kiss. I was so thankful in that moment that mind reading wasn’t part of what was between us, otherwise she would have gone running, screaming in the opposite direction, because there would have been no way to convince her she hadn’t driven me crazy. That’s how I felt—crazy to get her in the water and crazy to wipe that kiss out of my mind and out of hers.

We crossed the street hand in hand, and I led her down a narrow path, cutting between two houses, ignoring the scratch of tree branches and the startled shadow in one of the windows. I tried to slow down, but I was practically dragging her. I doubted she had a bathing suit under her dress and I was about to pull her in fully clothed, not that it would have mattered. Her clothes were already soaked from rain.

She stopped and tugged her hand from mine, and when I turned around she was already pulling her dress over her head. Underneath she wore a strapless bra and a thong. And just like that all the blood thrumming in my head flooded downward, settling between my legs.

“Jesus, Caris.” My head spun. My shirt joined her dress in the sand. She tucked her hand in mine, and this time she dragged me. I wasn’t sure I could do this. I wasn’t sure what she wanted from me.

The moonlight bathed her bare skin from the tops of her shoulders down the wind-blown fall of her hair and over the rounded curve of her ass. My knees nearly gave out. I was surprised I made it into the water without falling and making a fool of myself. We ducked under the water, and even though it was too dark to see, I knew she was looking at me, sucking me in with those eyes. So close our hair weaved together. We laced our fingers in an intimate joining of hands and waited endless minutes. Longer than it should have taken for her to heal. I wanted it to be gone. I didn’t want her to feel anything but the touch of my mouth when I kissed her. When we finally surfaced, we were both breathless with anticipation.

“Ask me.” I stared at her perfectly shaped mouth, waiting for it to form the words.

“Kiss me, Noah.”

I had thought about this so many times and I wanted to get it right. I wanted to claim her, delve in and taste deep, but I didn’t want to scare her. I was afraid I wanted so much more than she did, and I was strung so tight right now. I held back, applying soft, warm pressure that stole my breath, kicked my heart into overdrive and made my head spin. All that and I had barely even touched her.

Her mouth quirked and her hands cupped my jaw. “That was really sweet, Noah. Now kiss me.”

Beyond restraint, a gentle meeting of mouths was out of the question. Every feeling I had centered in that one place where our lips touched, hers pliant under mine. Our tongues caressed and sensation exploded in a wave of heat that scorched through me. She moaned and I caught the sound on my tongue. I pulled her against me, crushing her chest to mine. Warm, wet, salty, and sweet—I had never craved the taste of anything so much as her mouth. Her arms circled around my neck and her legs circled my hips. My palms created the perfect seat for her perfect ass.

Somehow I managed to pull my mouth from hers. Her hands clutched my shoulders and her body locked with mine. I had to look at her to make sure she was with me. Our eyes clashed in a mutual acknowledgment of want. No point in denying it, not with the proof of it pressed between us. She knew I wanted her, had to know how much I wanted her.

“Wow,” she said on a trickle of laughter.

“What?” I wasn’t ready to laugh yet. Laughing would require moving and if I moved, I might explode.

“You,” she whispered, teasing my lips with her tongue and nibbling on my bottom lip. “Just you.”

And then it started all over again. This was why I had waited. Halfway didn’t exist with Caris. I was so all in, and to have her wrapped around me, the taste of her in my mouth, I was crazy all right. Crazy about her. She must have felt me trembling, or maybe it was her, because she lifted her mouth and stared down into my face. I clutched tighter, holding on for as long as she would let me.

“Noah,” she breathed my name. A question, a plea, a curse—it sounded like all three. I knew exactly what she meant. It was either stop or move forward, but staying like this, so close to what I wanted, was pure torture.

“I’m fine.” My forehead fell against hers, chest heaving as water lapped around us, and I slammed on the proverbial brakes.

“I’m not.” She laughed again and I felt her stomach muscles contract. I settled her closer, not realizing it was possible, but it was, and it ached so good.

“Is this okay?” she asked, breathless as if she sensed I was on the verge of losing complete control. “Can we stay like this? Please.”

It was the “please” that gutted me. I would do anything for this girl. Even stay in this impossible position with me pressed intimately between her legs and nothing between us but my Velcro fly and a lace thong.

Then I laughed too, because the energy had to go somewhere. She had been right about our kiss. It had changed everything.

“You just feel so good,” she said as we stared at one another, touching with eyes and bodies, everywhere but mouths. She shifted on my hands, rocking her hips into mine.

“You can’t do that.” I held her still, fingers kneading because I just couldn’t not move.

“It’s too soon, isn’t it?” Her eyes were full of question and too much trust. “As much as we want to.”

The short answer was no, at least not for me, but the fact that she was asking meant it was for her.

“Yes.” Reluctantly I released her and let her float away on the current, holding on with just the link of our fingers. I couldn’t ever let her go completely, not now.

“Why didn’t you call me?” I drew her in and placed a passing kiss on her mouth, then let her float away again.

“I can’t do that, Noah. Not every time I might be a little freaked out.”

“Yes, you can.” What was I saying? A few weeks ago I had wanted nothing more than to get her out of my head, and here I was inviting her in, practically begging.

“I won’t, then. You can’t want that.” This time she pulled me to her, and not the light touch of lips. She dove in for a taste, the heat of her tongue firing my blood. I was already addicted to the feel of her mouth, the sweetness of it.

“I didn’t know you had learned to control it like that,” I said as she kicked away from me. Water splashed up in my face and I dove for her, catching her from behind.

“Noah!”

I made a chair of my body, pulling her onto my lap, back to chest, her butt and thighs molding to the tops of my legs.

“What?” I nuzzled her neck, blowing a warm steady breath behind her ear.

“Mmm.” She melted against me. “Look.” Her legs floated to the surface, bright pink toes peeking over the water like budding flowers. She’d been so distracting that I hadn’t even noticed her unstuckness. I knew well the force that held her down. If she could float, she was getting closer to being able to swim.

“That’s a good sign, right?”

“I would say so.”

I followed her out of the water and was mesmerized as she put her dress back on. She looked over at me, puzzled. No wonder, with me standing there like a statue, staring bug eyed and drooling.

“What?” She smoothed out the hem of her dress with her fingers. It clung to her damp skin.

“You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.” I felt a little cheesy saying it, but it was the absolute truth.

A smile brightened her face. “You’re not so bad yourself.” She threw my shirt at me. I didn’t bother putting it on. I took her hand and we walked back to Betty.

“Can you do anything like what my brother does? The fog, the rain? I mean, that was him, wasn’t it?”

“Sol does fog. And no, I can’t. Those are inherited traits.” Yeah, I could do all this manly stuff like talk to crabs and dolphins.

She stopped and pulled me around to face her. “My father does rain.”

“How do you know that?”

“He came to see me.” The haunted look in her eyes broke my heart, and that she’d had to face him alone when I wanted nothing more than to stand between her and the whole world.

“How did it go?” It was an effort to keep my voice calm.

“Horrible.” She shivered and I ran my hands up and down her bare arms. “Not as bad as I imagined it might be.”

I leaned over and placed a kiss to the top of her head. “The feeling’s mutual you know. I think you’re amazing too.”

She tucked her hand back in mine and we started walking again.

“So on the beach earlier, with Sol, the rain. That wasn’t him?”

“No, Caris. It was you.”